Licensed to kill.

 

  Some years ago we were the subject of an armed hold-up late at night on a country road. There, that got your interest, didn`t it.. It`s true, though, but the `highwaymen` were in fact the French police! One gendarme was covering his colleagues with a rifle from the other side of the road while another stopped the cars. Goodness knows what they were looking for, but it resolved into the normal check of papers, including, of course, my license.  This was the normal English license, the address of which was still my previous English address, even though we had been in France a couple of years..There is, in fact, no way of putting a French permanent address on an English license.
  Luckily, the Gendarme was bored with his night vigil, and had spent time in the West Country in the UK. He was more interested in chatting about Cornwall than in pursuing an infraction, and soon sent us on our way. Possibly he thought we were on holiday from the old address.
   However, a near miss like that concentrates the mind and we started the procedure to exchange our UK licenses for French ones with our correct addresses on them; luckily this did not entail a new driving test!! We have been French as far as our driving license is concerned for several years.
  I was surprised to receive, therefor a letter from the DVLA a few weeks ago, asking me to renew my English license at age 70, involving a medical check etc. I thought that perhaps my French papers would be invalid if I didn`t, but an enquiry established that they had omitted to note the change, and the reminder had been sent to my old UK address. They are now canceling details of my UK license as I have a French one.
  This saga has revealed an unsuspected benefit of French residency--I can legally drive my car, and indeed a motor-bike without any risk of prohibition due to age and possibly failing eye-sight! Whether this is a good idea time will tell, though one of our elderly neighbours does drive about, very slowly, though his sight is somewhat lacking.I believe someone in the French government did suggest a similar system to the UK a while ago, but roused such a storm of protest from isolated country-folk that they dropped it like a hot potato. Accident and insurance data seems to indicate that it is in fact not a dangerous thing. You`ll get no argument from me!

            Bye for now, got to drive over to Matha. Clear the road!!!